Composition Matters

Oh my gosh! What fantastic thoughts and observations by everyone on this panel….you all have gotten me thinking to such a degree that I was delayed in getting back to you.

A couple of points seem blatantly obvious to me:

First, I think it’s really time for a sea-change in programming methods. The musicians need to have much more say in what gets done. It’s better for the orchestra’s musicians and better for the audiences, and ultimately better for composers (I do believe that). Barbara’s suggestion of musicians voting on music programming is ingenious…it’s a win-win situation.

Chris’ realization, along with Shafer Mahoney, that the composer has to write the best, most engaging music they can in order to make this a better situation for all parties, is key to my personal philosophy (but let me say, I feel every composer is entitled to their own feelings on this). If a piece “speaks” to musicians, I find that they will most often play the piece well. If there is enough enthusiasm for a piece, artistic administrators and conductors are more likely to take a chance in programming the music with their own groups.

Both Barbara’s orchestra and Robert Levine’s orchestra have programmed pieces of mine based on the prior “buzz” about the works that were programmed. The 2 particular pieces have gone over well with orchestras (much better than some of my other works) because the musicians commented on how well it showed off their instruments and their abilities. I have lots of orchestral works that have not accomplished the same thing, but I do find that thinking about the musicians and the audience while writing helps to assist pieces to move in this direction.

My time this year (6 weeks, at various times) with the Pittsburgh Symphony actually attempted quite a few of the things that folks have suggested. The orchestra played 5 of my works; this gave the orchestra a chance to become familiar with my musical vernacular, and their comfort level increased with each work. We endeavored to schedule general meetings over pizza between myself and the musicians (on a voluntary basis) to talk about music and composing.

I was always present to answer questions and make changes in the music (listening very carefully to each suggestion made by a musician). And I made sure to remember that I was a guest, and that changes in the rehearsal schedule, where I was being asked to give up rehearsal time in order for the orchestra to do a small presentation to retiring musicians, was important to honor, as these were like family members departing the group.

These were some of the larger things that came about. There were a ton of other smaller conversations with musicians, education concerts, radio interviews and school visits that helped me to become closer to being a part of the orchestra. Not everyone liked it, not everyone was convinced, but it did go a long way in assisting in breaking down the composer/musician barrier.

Finally, Christian brings a unique perspective being a composer playing in an orchestra (or vice versa)…he understands how much time it takes to write a piece. Not everyone in an orchestra is going to understand this, but having a perspective of the other person’s viewpoint always makes it easier to make things better (his example of knowing how much work it takes to write a piece). The point is that the communication between all parties is extremely important, because it’s the only way to learn and understand.